


Of Hagoromo Blood

by dedicatedwriter21



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Bad Parenting, Child Abandonment, Childhood Friends, Coming of Age, Dark, Depression, Eventual Desertion, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Hidden Parental Heritage, Immortals, Kirigakure | Hidden Mist Village, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Mind Manipulation, Mind Reader, Mission Fic, Multi, Namikaze Minato Lives, No Uchiha Massacre, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Psychological Torture, Slow Burn, Torture, Uzumaki Kushina Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:35:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24598369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dedicatedwriter21/pseuds/dedicatedwriter21
Summary: What would you do if you were ostracised by your fellow villagers, rejected by your Sannin parents and left feeling broken, would you sink further into the abyss or look for a way out?History remembers Hashirama and Tobirama as the great Senju brothers who overcame their clan’s generational hatred of the Uchiha clan to create a village. However no one realises just how much influence their mother had in their triumph. Tsukiyama, their direct shared descendant, needs a way out. Never does she consider that her hated white hair and hated last name is the key to that, after all those with Hagoromo blood have always been a clan greatly feared and greatly respected. Now it’s time for the world to remember that...
Relationships: Jiraiya/Tsunade (Naruto), Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Itachi/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Madara & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

...three years earlier...

Tsukiyama followed Naruto up the winding steps that went from the back of the Hokage faces up the faces themselves. They had been careful to avoid the villagers, they were always careful to avoid the villagers. Naruto was already a well-known troublemaker. His immunity lay with the fact that he was the darling son of the Yondaime Hokage. Tsukiyama found it better to avoid detection altogether, she did not have any sort of protection regardless of who her parents or her not blood uncle were.

“Naruto, are you sure you this is going to work? Are you sure you managed to place all the tags?” Tsukiyama might be six years old in body but she was older in mind and the way she acted, not that anyone cared all that much. 

Naruto looked back and gave her that big grin of his: “I don’t fail Tsu…Tsu… I don’t fail.” 

He then turned back to the cliff as they continued to climb up those steps. The sun is high in the sky, the weather was hot and Tsukiyama wore a yukata that comes just above her knees. She wore her white hair down, even if she resembled her father more that way. 

They then reached the top as Tsukiyama heard peak traffic noise of the villagers below. Midday, that was the best time to do this, that was when there were the bigger crowds, that was when there could be greater destruction. Her mother and father have railed for years against her that they would punish her if she dared to sully their reputation, but they had not followed through. Tsukiyama had done small misdemeanours since the age of four, small things that could not be traced back to her but always reflected badly in one way or another on them.

Today she would let them see her face, today she would give them a reason to hate her.

Once they were on the cliff, Tsukiyama and Naruto stood in the place that the history books said that Hashirama and Madara once stood. They were planning a village, Tsukiyama and Tsukiyama were planning the destruction of a monument many held dear. Tsukiyama wanted to cause her famous parents as much humiliation as she could after all.

Tsukiyama then began to move closer towards the edge watching life take place below them. These villagers, these precious villagers how they hated her, how they scorned her. They may not have moved their mouths but she knew, she could sense it in their chakras, she could hear it in their heads. She was the daughter of a grand pervert. She was the granddaughter of a whore. But her worst crime was that she had tarnished her mother’s cherished Senju heritage. How could she be worthy to carry the blood of the god of the shinobi when she had the father she had? None of this she could change, but still, she was the target, because she had dared to come into this world and taint the bloodline of Hashirama Senju.

"Naruto!" She shouted back to the blonde boy who was running his hands along the rocks of the mountain looking for something.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I’m looking for it activation tag," Naruto told her.

“Hurry Naruto, this is the midday shop, it’s now or never," Tsukiyama warned him, as Naruto kept tracing his hands over the rocks. Tsukiyama stood even closer to the edge. Someone might fears that she might lose her balance and fall off, Tsukiyama had the skills to channel her chakra to her feet. The only way she was falling is if by some twist of fate the cliff would give way beneath her.

"Na-ru-to!" Tsukiyama warned him. 

"Got it!" Naruto pressed into the cliffside and Tsukiyama felt the satisfactory tremors if the first explosive going off down below. In true Tsukiyama had held Naruto the rope so he could scale the Hokage heads to place the tags. This had taken them almost a year to do, this was the place that most people could see, so Tsukiyama and Naruto had had to work on things before the sunrise or when it set. The only parent that came looking for them was Kushina, her parents didn’t care what she was doing, well not unless it was something that would reflect badly on them.

Another explosion shook the mountain, the sight of the side of the cliff cracking and crashing down onto screaming villagers below brought a sort of wicked smile to Tsukiyama’s lips. How much she wished to crush the ants below just as much as they had wanted to crush her spirit? Tsukiyama and the villagers’ hatred for each other were fast becoming mutual.

A third explosion shook the mountain as Tsukiyama almost burst into a fit of hysterics as more and more pieces of the mountain crumbled down into the vermin below. She would crush them before they could crush her! It was not as if her parents would come to her defence, in their eyes, she would always be the troublemaker.

"Um, Tsuki aren’t you kinda standing very close to the edge?" Tsukiyama heard Naruto ask after her, she turned back to Naruto, he had the same look his Uzumaki mother gave her when she did something than would disgruntle her parents. Tsukiyama though had learnt to take Kushina’s looks of disapproval as a way to measure how much humiliation she was shovelling her parents’ way.

A fourth explosion then went off and suddenly, suddenly Tsukiyama felt the side of the Hokage head she was standing on give way under her feet. At that moment it did not matter how she had taught herself about chakra control from books. She was still falling, falling, falling right of the edge of the cliff right past the cracked head of none other than the first Hokage.

And the last time she heard before her eyes closed was Naruto screaming the name "Tsu-ki-ya-ma!" for all the world to hear.

............

When Tsukiyama woke, she woke with a start. Her body ached, her head pounded and if she hadn’t known it any better, she was still falling, falling, falling. She opened her eyes suddenly and that was her mistake, for the eyes she was met with was the furious ones of her father, Jiriaya Hagoromo.

"You despicable brat!" Tsukiyama could not stop herself from flinching at the harshness of his voice, though she had to stop herself vomiting from the viciousness of his chakra. The books described her as an advanced sensor, sensitive to the ways of chakra and the ways of the mind. Though the only other advanced sensor to have ever existed was Tobirama Senju.

And then she caught sight of them, eyes upon eyes of villagers crowding around her, to sneer at her, to laugh at her. Their mouths did not move, but that did not mean she did not hear them. Being held in her father’s arms did nothing to stop the onslaught.

_That brat, she’s gone and done it now, hasn’t she?_

_Always knew she was a stain to the noble bloodline of the First Hokage._

_But they let her into the academy without an entrance exam,_ **didn’t** _they?_

 _If the pervert doesn’t put her in her place now then that just proves that he is just as useless as the seed_ **he** _spawned._

"We **_warned_** you. Your mother and I warned you that we would not tolerate this kind of behaviour anymore..." her father had started to speak yet all that Tsukiyama could register was the bile coming up her throat as her father’s chakra became more and more **_unbearable_ ** . She needed to get away, get away before she did something as unseemly as vomit everywhere for **_everyone_** to see. They already saw her as tainted so why give them any more reason to confirm that she was also weak. It was not as if her parents would train her and her not blood uncle was becoming less and less inclined to help her out in that department.

Tsukiyama realised that for **_that_** she needed to run, but **_first_** , she would have to get out of her father’s hold. It did **_not_** do her image any good to be cradled like some sort of helpless baby. She looked left and then right, everyone had started to crowd her both in the presence and in mind. It would be a good way down, but the chakra overload was fast approaching. So she turned onto her side and forced herself to roll right out of her father’s arms.

"Tsu-ki-ya- ** _ma_**!" She heard her father protest from the minute she was flying, flying, flying right onto her hands and knees. Thank goodness it was a soft landing, Tsukiyama’s world was already starting to blur and fuzz. She jumped to her feet, the dizziness was only getting worse as her breathing speed up. She gulped once, twice, three times to stop the avalanche that wanted to come out of her mouth.

Yet the thoughts were still coming her way.

 _Runaway_ ** _you_ ** _rat, right back into your hole!_

Tsukiyama held up her hand coughing up a little bile which thankfully was more water than solid food for the moment. She then took a step forward and had a hand suddenly pinched her at the back of the head, it was meant to hurt. She still willed herself to sprint forward as that hand that had been on her neck slipped away...seconds later she held someone pulling, pulling, pulling on her yukata collar as she tried everything to run, no matter how much the action of doing so was choking her.

"Running away are you?" She heard her father’s dark voice asking after her. Once he had addressed her with tenderness, but now it was with a distinct amount of contempt. She had cried for hours the first time her father had used **_that_** voice against her. This time though she turned back to eye her father, eye his hand, lean forward and before she could bite his hand, she got a hard smack right across the face that had her crumpling onto the ground.

"Uooo, nice one!" One of the villagers dared to say.

Tsukiyama rose to her feet staring her father down, he returned the favour, as they began circling each other. She stayed silent, that was always a sure-fire way to get her father riled up.

"Well, you've gone and done it haven’t you, **_you brat_ **!" He was the one to break the silence, he was not the patient Sannin after all. "You will pay a painful price for sullying our reputation, you despicable child!"

The villagers were still there watching as if waiting for her imminent downfall. She would not take it lying down, she was not strong like her parents, she had power but lacked the tools with which to control it but she knew, she **_knew_ ** that she had her mind.

"Oh, father dearest **_everyone_** knows that you sullied the Sannin reputation long before **_I_ ** got here. Your perverted books are more than evidence of that!" That got her father so enraged that his chakra let out a boom that had everyone falling on their asses.

Good, they were distracted, now was the time to make a run for it! But suddenly trails and trails of long white spiky hair subsumed her body pulling her closer and closer and closer. She pushed as it, tore at it and even tried to grab onto something to pull herself away from it. But little by little the hair pulled her back and back and back before it dumped her into the gravel in an unceremonious heap. Before she could run again there was another hand on the back of her neck dragging her off the ground and draping her midsection right against a bony knee.

"Consider this a long time coming brat!"

And then came the first whack right across her behind.

“Look at that! Look as the spawn finally gets put in her place!” Tsukiyama hears the villagers shout and jeer as the second whack comes to her behind.

It stings, it burns but Tsukiyama does not cry, she will not give them **_that_** satisfaction. Their chakra is what crushes her as she can no longer hold herself back from hunching over and retching all down the side of her father’s knee.

“Look at her! Look at how she gets her ass tanned! Look how she disgraces the name of Hashirama Senju as she retches like the tainted **_spawn_** that she is!”

And on that day Tsukiyama knew that **_they_** …the villagers had won. She was broken.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of training.

“Tsukiyama…you are ten years old now, I have no choice but to release you from ANBU training to begin active duty.” 

Tsukiyama stood looking up to the elevated platform to the man sitting in the black chair. This man was tall, had long black spiky hair and wore the owl ANBU mask. Everyone in the ANBU referred to this man as the unofficial head of the ANBU black ops. He **_never_** took his mask off and rarely trained anyone.

“How do you feel about this?” That was the other thing, this elusive figure had taken a keen interest in her development and wellbeing. To this day, this confused Tsukiyama, when people cared about her, it was only to see her demoralised, dragged down and broken. She had become aware of this at four, lost the will to fight when seven and now at ten, Tsukiyama found that residing in the shadows was the place where she would find peace.

She remained silent as Owl, that was what the other ANBU operatives called this man, rested his eyes on her.

“Tsukiyama, an answer if you will, not even Tobirama Senju was as silent as you.” Tobirama Senju, that was a name that Owl seemed to have a certain familiarity with. He had access to books not in the public library not **_even_** in Danzo Shimaru’s collection. With Owl, Tsukiyama’s sensory abilities had stopped choking the life out of her. With Owl, she had begun learning how to hone onto certain people, she had learnt how to distinguish whose thoughts she was **_actually_** hearing. Interesting enough, Tsukiyama had never been able to hear Owl’s thoughts.

“Words are superfluous in a situation that was inevitable,” Tsukiyama spoke with finality, she found that that tone was always the best one to use. Don’t be open to extended communication and then people will leave you alone. Don’t engage with others and then you wouldn’t get hurt. 

“Really…?” Owl was still digging, Tsukiyama knew she had to endure. He had given her something important, he had given her the tools to control the great power she had inherited. Orochimaru had sided with her father in the end.

“I was presented with the Frog mask on my first day here, only my age kept me from wearing it until now.” There it was again, Tsukiyama used closed statements to bring Owl’s probing to an end.

“Don’t you mean the day your father abandoned you here?” Tsukiyama flinched at that. That day…that day was one she liked to pretend **_never_** happened. Her father, the great Sannin pervert had screamed at her, had spanked her, withheld meals and even locked her out of the house. Tsukiyama had taken them all in her stride, giving him quiet defiance when he demanded compliance. Her mother had suggested, the traitor, she had been the one who put the idea in his head to dump her in the ANBU. Her parents had thought that that would break her, make her obedient. What they didn’t realise is that you couldn’t break what was already broken.

“I always did admire the ANBU, the masks they wear, the respect they have. I look forwards to making the full transition.” Tsukiyama answered him without an answer. Owl rose from his chair, his chakra seemed to bubble the tiniest bit, but it was quickly pulled back. That was the thing with Owl, Tsukiyama knew that he was powerful, she knew that he was old. And she would not question him on his true identity, not when it was him that had passed on jutsu skills that Tsukiyama did not think would ever been approved academy teaching material. 

“Tsukiyama!” Owl had shot to his feet. In some ways, he sounded so much like her father when he lost his patience with her. Tsukiyama had suppressed the hurt when the relationship with her father broke down, she could easily do it with **_this_** man too.

“Tsukiyama named for Hashirama, named for Tobirama.” Tsukiyama liked to say that, she liked the irony that she, the tainted spawn, carried a name linked to that god and that near god shinobi. Madara Uchiha might be the only other shinobi she would respect.

Owl started to stamp his feet, started to scream and shout and holler: “Damn it Tobirama, damn it, damn it, damn it! She’s even more stubborn than **_you_**!”

The entrance of a new chakra tickled Tsukiyama’s core, she turned her head to see the entrance of a face she was familiar with. Itachi Uchiha, her sibling student.

“Leader?” he spoke with an elevated voice, but Owl was busy. Owl was digging a hole in the elevated platform muttering about stubborn Senju, stubborn Hagoromo.

“Hashirama, why did **_you_** leave me behind to deal with this mess!” Owl continued to scream.

Tsukiyama caught sight of Itachi staring at her. Itachi did a lot of that, but what unnerved her was this longing in his eyes. Tsukiyama did not like it. So when he tried to join her for lunch she would move away, those in the ANBU knew better than to try and strike up a conversation with her. She would always shut them down, she did not need their pity. She knew she might be broken inside but she refused to show weakness!

Itachi then let out a such a loud cough that Tsukiyama knew her mother would call it the whooping cough. 

Owl brought his tantrum to a sudden end, cleared his throat before straightening up. 

“Tsukiyama.” Tsukiyama bowed her head, she recognised Owl’s voice when he was serious about something.

“You will be serving under Itachi Uchiha from now on.”

Then Tsukiyama’s world came to a screeching halt. She turned her head towards Itachi, her eyes going wide. Itachi meanwhile looked as calm as a Buddhist monk deep within meditation. He then lifted a hand and waved it at her slowly.

Tsukiyama then turned back to Owl, he was back on his chair, chin resting on his knuckles probably looking quite smug. He had **_done_** this on purpose!

............

“Tsu-ki-ya-ma!” Anko Mitarashi, she was a queen with knives. Tsukiyama likes to spend time with her, knowledge of knifeplay was nothing to sniff at. Plus she appreciated Anko’s fuck-off attitude, she did things her **_way_** no matter what anyone said of it. Tsukiyama thought she might like to emulate her. They usually meet in one of the many weapons room found in the ANBU compound.

Tsukiyama moved her hand up to catch the knife before it went ahead and left a long bloody scratch across her cheek. Anko had got her a few times, and then Tsukiyama decided to pay attention. Huh, did that mean that Anko wanted her attention now?

She gave Anko a long hard look. The crazy lady cracked her the same sort of grin her Uncle, not Uncle used to give her. The look that there was something that **_she_ ** had done wrong!

“You know Lord Fourth turned up yesterday.” Tsukiyama blinked a few times pressing her lips together. Minato, that was a conundrum she wanted to shake off. He had tried to act as a mediator between her and her father. He had even done ridiculous **_bonding_** exercises that had been designed to ease the constant tension between the two of them. Tsukiyama had mastered the art of staring without blinking at that time and it was her father who had ended up storming off.

Tsukiyama cocked her head. Anko immediately jumped at her, waving around her index finger wildly.

“You…you been avoiding his summons haven’t you?” Anko snapped at her.

Tsukiyama turned her head away. This was not a conversation she wanted to engage in, even if it was without words. Minato was an idiot ball of sunshine who thought that things between her and her parents could be fixed.

"Hey...! Hey...! **_HEY_ **...!" Tsukiyama turned her attention back to Anko who was beginning to grate on her nerves. She might have appreciated Anko’s skills but she would walk out of this conversation if it turned towards the do-not-talk-about subjects.

"My brain is all ears!" Tsukiyama told her as she quickly detected a glimmer of concern in Anko’s eyes. "Jeesh, lord Fourth is still your godfather you know, and he’s the Hokage. You can’t **_keep_** ignoring him!"

Tsukiyama tilts her head the other way: “Has sunshine senior been grating on your nerves Anko?”

Anko gave Tsukiyama a look of exasperation before letting out a long sigh: “He wanted to give you a message.”

Tsukiyama narrowed her eyes: “Sunshine senior’s pep talks are pretty pointless anyway.”

Yet Anko was still giving Tsukiyama that look, and she knew that whatever the older woman was about to say, she would not like it.

“He’s got you an audience,” Anko told her.

Tsukiyama lifted an eyebrow as Anko started gesturing with her hands obviously not wanting to use a particular word.

“With who, Anko?” Tsukiyama asked her.

Anko then got down onto one knee, as Tsukiyama felt a headache coming on. Whenever the adults in her life did something like this, come to ‘her level’ as they liked to put it, they only did it to admonish her in one way or another.

Anko then pressed a hand onto her shoulder: “Look Tsukiyama, this thing…this whole deal, the ANBU black ops is dangerous, like you can **_die_** from it.”

Tsukiyama gave her the response of blinking, blinking and more blinking.

“The ANBU black ops is the grittiest, the hardest, the cruellest part of what it is to be a shinobi.”

And Tsukiyama only blinked more.

“Take the audience.”

“With who?” Tsukiyama repeated.

“Look the conditions are simple, Lord Fourth said that **_he_** would take you back tomorrow if you simply get down on one knee and beg for forgiveness.”

Tsukiyama felt a vein bulging in her forehead. “Who, Anko, who?” 

“Your father, Tsukiyama, your **_father_ **.” 

Tsukiyama then pulled away back from Anko, back and back and back. Anko stood up quickly looking exasperated that she had **_not_** been listened to.

“I’ve been assigned to serve under Itachi, Anko, did you know that?” Tsukiyama once again reverted to her old tactic of changing the subject.

Anko was having none of that. She rushed forward before reaching out and pulling Tsukiyama up by her collar. Anko then got right into Tsukiyama’s face, forcing Tsukiyama to look at the older woman and not turn away.

“Listen here kid, you’re a baby, you don’t belong here. This feud you’ve got going on with your Pa has **_got_** to stop. Your sensory powers won’t get in the way anymore, you will be able to live in peace.”

Tsukiyama decided to turn her head to the side anyway whilst giving Anko something for the woman to think about. “Can you unknow what you already know, Anko?”

“Well no but…” Anko was letting her back to the floor now. 

“But what?” Tsukiyama turned to her looking and looking at her, it had freaked her father out, Anko would be no different.

“You’re of royal blood kid, you’re like **_really_** important.”

Then the silence came and then the staring, neither the older nor the younger female was about to back down. Well until a third person entered the room, muttering: “Cowards, bloody fucking cowards.”

Both Anko and Tsukiyama turned to look at none other than Ibiki Morino. He was another adult that Tsukiyama liked.

“Hey, Ibiki kind of talking to Tiny over here!” Anko huffed as Tsukiyama let out a silent laugh at her odd nickname.

Ibiki continued to mutter anyway: “Bunch of pussies, everyone in the ANBU black ops are nothing but yellow-bellied wimps. They act like interrogating prisoners is worse than slicing an enemy through the gut.”

Something tickled Tsukiyama, something festered deep inside of her, a way out.

“Do you need help Ibiki?” she decided to ask. That got Ibiki to stop muttering and finally pay attention to the bickering woman and woman-in-the-making. 

Anko started waving her hands wildly as Ibiki narrowed his eyes at Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama gave him a small smile. 

“Oh well, at least you’ll get some more psychological preparation before you head out on duty.”

............

To Tsukiyama, there was something quite beautiful about the way the prisoner was hoisted up against the Catherine Wheel. The prisoner was shirtless and drenched in sweat. The leather straps were so tight around the prisoner's wrists and ankles that all Ibiki had to do was pull a metal rope that had the prisoner shaking and screaming as the veins in his arms and legs started to bulge. His hands and legs though were covered in bindings that wrapped around each one of his fingers and his toes. And as Ibiki began his interrogation regime, Tsukiyama could see the pain on the prisoner's brow and she liked it, the power of making another suffer was liked eating a bowl of her favourite ice cream. Delicious and addictive.

“The pick-up point Riku, where is it? WHERE IS IT?!” Tsukiyama watched as Ikibi pulled the metal rope and the straps started to pull. The prisoner started to scream, started to wriggle and shake his legs as Tsukiyama watched in awe as his arms and his legs grew longer and longer.

How she would like to inflict pain on those who had rejected everything **_she_ ** was? Bow down and beg for forgiveness, ha, as if she would ever give her father the pleasure. She wasn’t the one who had fucked up, that was him, that was them. Parents are supposed to protect their children, take their sides. But **_no_ ** her parents acted like nothing was wrong, they acted like they **_didn’t_ ** feel and hear all the hatred coming her way. They made it worse.

“Ha! You might be Ibiki Morino the great brain fucker, but I’ve trained against you. I will die before you **_get_** any information from me!” 

Mind fucker, hmm, Ibiki Morino a mind fucker, that was Tsukiyama’s domain. The processes of the mind could not avoid her.

Ibiki looked peeved, and then Tsukiyama let her chakra rise, she let the muddle of thoughts rush into her head. She had a bout of dizziness from that, Owl had been training her, yes, but even he had had to warn her that her sensory powers were still intense on her chakra network. 

“Trained against me did you?” Tsukiyama kept her attention on the prisoner. Ibiki meanwhile reached for one of the small leather strips hands from his fingers and gave it a sudden yank. Tsukiyama only half registered the sound of a bone-breaking and the cry of agony that came with it.

She then honed in more and more on the wisps of chakra the prisoner was giving off. Under such circumstances, no one could really control how their chakra would respond. Owl always told her that the more she practised the more she would be able to break through their mental shield to gain access to their thoughts. However, most people did not know that the upper level of being a sensor translated to mind reading. So they let their thoughts and chakra run rampant and that’s what Tsukiyama used as her doorway in.

_Fuck, fuck, fu-uck! I need to keep him occupied and let the others move the weapons to the cloud._

Tsukiyama turned to Ibiki addressing him: “The weapons are being taken to the cloud.”

Ibiki stood breaking fingers, the prisoner stopped screaming as they both turned their attention to look at her. 

“What the fuck, how did she know that?!” the prisoner shouted. Ibiki meanwhile was left looking at the prisoner and then looking at her. It was the prisoner he left behind to join her, leaned over and whispered into her ear: “I’m not sure how you did that. Do you have any ideas that will have him spilling more of his secrets?”

Tsukiyama pulled away to frown at Ibiki. If Ibiki wanted to get more information out of prisoner he needed to target his other brain. Men had one in their heads and the other down below.

Tsukiyama followed Ibiki back to his deck of torture instruments, they varied from tweezers to drills. Tsukiyama put something that had Ibiki raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a little young to be using a vibrator?”

Tsukiyama pulled her head back giving Ibiki a what-are-you-talking-about look. Tsukiyama then moved over to the prisoner, lifted the vibrator and pressed it right down onto the bulge between his legs.

The screaming was a **_lot_** more feral this time, a **_lot_** more sincere and then Tsukiyama turned to Ibiki who was looking at her and going quite green in the face. He would not have liked to go through the same torment of having a vibrator pressed up between his legs like that!

Tsukiyama pressed her lips together giving Ibiki a humph! Ibiki raised his eyebrows before turning back to the prisoner and demanding. 

“The pick-up point, Riku!”

Riku started screaming: “O’Fuku town, O’Fuku town damn it!”

Ibiki gave Tsukiyama a curious look, as Tsukiyama continued to enjoy the thrill of power rush coming from this prisoner screaming in agony. 

“And your accomplices?” Ibiki questioned the prisoner. Riku acquiesced, of course, he did, as Tsukiyama was starting to shiver and shake from this newfound power.

Eventually what broke through was the sound of the prisoner crying, begging, “Please make her stop! Make her stop!”

Tsukiyama then felt a pair of gloved hands wrapping around her wrists pulling them back and back and back. Tsukiyama tried to resist the intrusion until the vibrator was ripped out of her hands and thrown to the floor. 

She looked up to see Ibiki looking at her, kind of in awe, kind of in terror. Tsukiyama opened and closed her hands as Ibiki could only look at her in disbelief.

It was the prisoner who finally spoke some sense. “You people are really fucked up, you know that right?! What is a princess like **_her_** doing in an organisation like **_this_**?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An offer she can refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Malyamia and the guest who left kudos on this story, it was a really nice surprise :)
> 
> Too many fics have 'Broken Angel' as the title hopefully this one will stand out more :)

"Tsuki...Tsukiyama what have you gone and done to your lovely hair.” Tsukiyama had stolen away early into the showers this morning. Most ANBU arrived later than she did because they did not live in the ANBU compound as she did. She had a tiny room, a small bed and a bare desk. It was nothing like the finery she had had at her father’s house, but Tsukiyama had learnt to think of that as a good thing. At least here, she didn’t have to deal with **_him_ **.

"It is not against the regulations Captain," Tsukiyama told him firmly. She addressed Itachi as captain because now at thirteen that was what he had become. But the thing with the young captain was that he had shown no willingness to take on a team, well that was until her that was.

"But...but your hair, your hair is what makes you **_you_ **." Itachi had started their exit out of the compound and into the main village. Tsukiyama had read the duty report, check the strength of the barrier. Owl had actually shown her all the documents regarding the mechanics of the barrier that Tobirama had constructed. So it could very well be that this duty had been assigned to her because of this fact.

"A shinobi must above all things not call attention to themselves.”

Tsukiyama kept her voice low, just above audible for Itachi but not for the villagers that passed them by. She was in full ANBU regalia now, the mask had now become her shield. Mostly she had enjoyed the occasional bow of the heads of those who saw them, the idea of this newfound respect thrilled her. It was **_not_** as if they could identify her for who she actually was.

“But to die your hair brown, it makes you look unnatural." Itachi had this air of calmness about him, but there was also that longing there. The one that Tsukiyama did not like, no one **_actually_** wanted her, not really. Her parents had made that more than obvious.

"Would you have rather I choose the colour black?" Tsukiyama poised her question to Itachi as he went quiet. Good, Tsukiyama needed less chatter and more chance to kneel in front of the edge of the barrier and apply the seal brush against it. The barrier fizzed and crackle white as she did so, her chakra fizzed and crackled lilac in turn. There was something in this barrier that called out to her, some sort of connection with the barrier maker himself. She knew she was distantly related to the Second Hokage through her mother but she had always thought it would be too distant to manipulate Tobirama’s jutsus. One by one individual kanji symbols of earth, water, wind, fire and energy appeared. From her studies, Tsukiyama knew that earth was what grounded the barrier. Water and wind were what gave it it’s expansive scope. Fire was the source of its power to maintain itself and energy was the way it pushed away unrecognised forces. The headband that every student received upon graduation had a sea, that would permit you to leave and permit you entry.

For some reason though Tsukiyama had not needed this headband.

"Lord...Lord Fourth!" Itachi breaking his silence broke Tsukiyama’s semi meditative state that had the barrier signing in response to her chakra flaring and receding, flaring and receding. The barrier had been calling out to her as if she had some deep connection to it.

"Hello there godchild of mine, fancy seeing you here?" Tsukiyama rose to her feet at that. Her godfather donned his usual Hokage jacket, it was a modern style, she didn’t appreciate it. She preferred the more traditional sort of regalia.

"My chakra does not allow foreign seal markings, Lord Fourth, how did you bypass this?!" Minato gave her a sheepish grin, before pointing his hand back at Itachi.

"I am on duty Lord Fourth, I don’t have time for you now." She told him in the hopes that he would have buggered off. Minato only gave her that soft small smile of his. She turned away as he reached out to put a hand onto her shoulder, she immediately seized up. This move brought back bad memories, her father would also used to grab on her shoulder and pull her back before flinging her across the knee to spank her. He liked to do it with an audience watching just to **_screw_** with her self confidence.

She would not tolerate this. She whipped around and gave the Hokage a sharp slap across his face to force him back. He **_did_** move back, but he kept his eyes trained on her all the same as he rubbed his cheek.

"That wasn’t very nice," Sunshine senior did not live up to her nickname for him with the frown lines appearing in his face.

“You got my message didn’t you?" He was **_still_** engaging in conversation with her. Damn it, throwing him off was never one of her strong suits. That’s why avoiding him had become a better move.

She gave him a glare.

He gave her a smile, something was twinkling in his eyes, almost a sign that he had come up with another futile bounding exercise.

"Another team will take over barrier duty tomorrow night so you can attend dinner." He said.

“No, I will not attend.”

Minato didn’t like her saying that. "You are ANBU and I am Hokage, that means I am your superior."

Tsukiyama narrowed her eyes.

“You will attend dinner, that is an order!” He was the one not leaving room for argument now.

"No!” She still chooses to fight back against him.

Minato frowned even more. "You will, Kushina would like to see her goddaughter."

Tsukiyama let out a hmph: “I do know a trap when I see one, Minato!”

Minato cocked his head. “A trap?”

"I know that **_they_** will be there," Tsukiyama said.

Minato nodded his head: “Yes and they would so very much like to see you."

"No!" Tsukiyama repeated.

Minato reached forward to touch her hair. "Remove the hair die before you do. I don’t want sensei to think you are rejecting him."

Minato then flickered away as Itachi spoke up though he seemed to struggle with what he was about to say: "I suppose dying your hair is permissible, too many people would link you back to Master Jiraiya if you didn’t."

..........

The following night the teams were changed, Minato’s guards trumped Itachi’s authority to take Tsukiyama to his house. They had looked at her, muttering that Lord Fourth and the council of advisers were in agreement for once and she would **_never_** get a mission outside of the Land of Fire. It was at that time that Tsukiyama could see the Hyuga compound getting closer and she struct each out of her escorts hard across the back of their necks. She was fast, Owl said pretty much like Tobirama himself, the guards did not have any chance to argue before falling unconscious for a few hours. She made sure to drag them into nearby ditches and throw them in, even if they woke up too soon, it would be morning before anyone would find them.

Once she was free, she had thought she would return to the ANBU compound, but she dismissed that. If she returned there before tomorrow, she would set off alarm bells for Minato to come to drag her to dinner himself.

So she turned towards the Hyūga compound. They were a clan of calm sensible people. They would not raise a racket that she was there, plus Hinata would surely hide her if anyone came looking.

...............

“Oh Tsukiyama, I’m sorry, I’m so, **_so_** sorry for all the pain you have to go through daily hearing those horrible villagers think you done like that!”

There was this thing that Hinata always did when the two of them were alone together. Hinata was a quiet person by nature, Tsukiyama was a quiet person for self-preservation. The ones that actually wanted to know her opinion were the odd ones, everyone else who didn’t were normal. Hinata would spend at least an hour hanging to her as a lost puppy would cling to its owner. 

“I didn’t hear them yesterday,” Tsukiyama said in a low tone. Hinata tended to work herself into a state. She was a fragile leaf in the academy, stuttering and stammering when their classroom teacher had called on her. She was a Hyūga, she was her father’s favourite. Her father was rather brutal with her training at times, but Tsukiyama appreciated him for that. He was teaching Hinata to defend herself against the bullies and the world. **_He_** was teaching her to be the heir. **_Her_** parents had said that disobedient children didn’t deserve the privileges of heirship training. Tsukiyama’s answer to that was that the Sannin was not a clan, and most would howl if she declared herself Senju heiress. **_That_** title belonged to her mother. 

“You…you didn’t?” Hinata pulled away as she asked that. She had stopped her wailing, her chakra was settling, Tsukiyama found relief. Hinata was friendly territory, she did not want to shut her **_out_ **. 

Tsukiyama shook her head. “That is the benefit of wearing the ANBU mask.”

Hinata winced visibly at that, Tsukiyama could see it, even in the low moonlight making it difficult for them to see each other.

“You’re…you’re out of training.” Tsukiyama could see that Hinata was struggling, struggling to not start wailing again. It was ironic everyone who she **_chose_** and **_chose not_** to have contact with did **_not_** want her in the ANBU. But then no one can argue against the papers her father had signed enforcing her exile in the ANBU. It was like an advanced version of locking her out of the house to get from her what he wanted. But as far as Tsukiyama was concerned, she was not going to apologise for something **_he_** had failed her on.

“Yes Hinata, they put me on barrier duty.” Tsukiyama watched as Hinata let out a breath she had been holding.

“Itachi’s my captain.” She told her.

Hinata cocked her head: “As in Itachi Uchiha?” 

Tsukiyama had a confession to make. There had been days that her visiting Hinata had crossed times when Itachi had intruding into her personal space. She had been rather **_childish_** whining about him. Hinata had been quiet, smiling, nodding her head. Now she had this twinkle in her eyes, as she cupped her face with her hands. 

“Itachi huh? He’s good husband material you know? Mother had said that it’s a long time coming for a Senju and an Uchiha to finally tie the knot.”

Tsukiyama could only stare and stare at her friend before her eyes going wide, leaning forward and burst into fits of belly-aching laughter. 

“Oh come to Hinata, stop it, stop it, stop it! Just because you’ve got the cooties for Sunshine doesn’t mean that I’ve got it the cooties for Itachi.”

Hinata pulled her hands away before crossing her arms too, pressing her lips together staring **_her_** down. 

Hinata’s door then slid open as both Tsukiyama and her friend turned their attention the person who had arrived. Tsukiyama immediately went rigid when she realised who it was, even if he wore his nighttime attire.

She slapped her arms to her side and bowed in a way a commoner might bow in front of their king. “Lord Hiashi!”

“Tsukiyama, stop this, stop this immediately.” She felt a hand on her face, under her chin pulling her up and up and up until she was no longer bowing.

“You are a princess Tsukiyama.”

Tsukiyama eyed the tray of food he was balancing in his left hand.

“You just haven’t found your kingdom yet.”

Hiashi was an idealist, not in public, but in private. Sometimes she wished she had a father like that, sometimes she wished she had the security of a clan like the Hyūga.

“Lord Hiashi! Lord Hiashi!” Lord Hiashi took his hand back from Tsukiyama’s face as she and the two Hyūga turned towards the door.

“Permission to enter.” 

“Permission granted,” Hiashi said.

They all watched as one of the branch members came in, giving a low bow and rabbling in a panic.

“Lord Fourth had breached entry, he says that Princess Tsukiyama is secreted within our walls. Lady Hide assured him otherwise but…”

The branch member then looked up eyes going wide when he noticed Tsukiyama.

“Oh.” He said.

Hiashi then lay the tray onto the floor, before standing back up and turning to Tsukiyama. “Were you expected elsewhere tonight?”

Tsukiyama eyed Hinata’s window before Hiashi broke her concentration. “You climb out there now and you will get caught.”

Tsukiyama gave him a sheepish smile, he then indicated her towards the door as he did Hinata. “Let’s hide you away, you will have to come to Hinata if they don’t find Tsukiyama, then they **_will_** question you.”

...............

“This way, this way,” Hiashi called after Tsukiyama in a soft tone as she and Hinata hurried after the Hyūga clan head. Every Hyūga was awake now, their rooms being searched one by one by one. Minato had irritated Tsukiyama before but now she considered that she might want to **_hate_ ** him. What right did he have to break into the compound of one of the villagers’ shinobi clan compounds?

“Lord Hiashi take them to the bathhouse. Lord Fourth may be completely out of line forcing entry in on us like this but he’s surely not going to go to the bathhouse. That would cause a scandal that would not reflect well on him.”

Bathhouse? Oh yes, the Hyūga was the traditional sort, the really traditional sort. In the ANBU compound, there were communal showers. In her father’s house, there had been a bath. What luxuries did Hinata’s home have?

……………

The Hyūga bathhouse had a wooden bath that could accommodate at least ten people. Tsukiyama and Hinata were tiny ten-year-olds, the bath swamped them, the water might drown them. The servants that tended to the chamber pushed them right into the bathwater with their nightclothes and all. Hinata had stripped Tsukiyama of her ANBU gear and given her clothes to sleep for the night. Now those same clothes were getting soaked through.

“What…what do you think you are doing? You can’t go in there, don’t you have any decency?” Tsukiyama heard Lady Hide argue, and then the doors opened anyway.

“Cherub… **_cherub_ **…”

Even though the water was hot, Tsukiyama still shivered when hearing that voice. It was high pitched, smooth, feminine, this was not Minato, even if many in the ANBU liked to dub him a girly boy.

“Cherub really, did you have to create all this commotion?” Tsukiyama saw as Hinata reached out to grab onto her before she could make any movement to indicate that **_she_ ** was there. Tsukiyama did not like this Sannin, he might have trained her once upon a time but then he had taken her **_father’s_** side. He had probably come as his lackey today as well or was it Minato’s?

“We understand you now cherub, your parents…they understand what happened to you six years ago, what made you change.”

Tsukiyama felt all the muscles in her body clench. There were periods in her life that she had sworn to block out, times that would cause her uncontrollable rage. 

“Tsuki…” Hinata placed a supportive hand onto her arm. Tsukiyama’s chakra had been bubbling up to the surface at that point, her friend’ gesture had calmed it. 

“Your sensory powers came in.”

Tsukiyama wanted to break something, she wanted to cause pain. She wanted to be back in Ibiki’s torture chamber, at least there…at least there she had some sort of semblance of control.

“Now four years old cherub, that’s very early for such skills to manifest and your parents had not been expecting it. They still don’t know how you have them in the first place.”

Tsukiyama was finding it difficult to keep her breathing regulated. Orochimaru might have used soothing words with her, but what was coming out of his mouth was not what was necessarily coming out of his head.

_Minato and Jiraiya are on the brink of a nasty argument. The only way to stop it is by bringing the ungrateful child back to heel. I will not have her be the cause of the bond of sensei and student breaking down._

In truth, Orochimaru had trained her, yes, with the basics. But when the words of encouragement coming out of his mouth stopped corresponding with the thoughts of disapproval in his head, Tsukiyama had chosen to pull back. Tsukiyama had chosen to hold her true feelings back from him and that’s when things started going downhill.

Tsukiyama had come to realise that she didn’t want to associate with those who smiled to her face whilst stabbing her in the back. 

“We now understand the sudden onslaught of chakra signature overwhelmed you, scared you, made you sick. But you’ve had a year of training now, Minato’s reports indicate that you don’t have the physical distresses that once plagued you. It’s time for you to come home Tsukiyama.”

Chakra signatures making her sick, that had only been a minor problem. What had been the biggest problem was that Tsukiyama had learnt that the world was a horrible place and all the ills that the world should have directed to her parents, was instead concentrated onto her. She had been little more than an oblivious doll up until the age of four, she had been **_Daddy’s_** girl. But then she had learnt what being hated meant, she had **_heard_** it, she had **_felt_** it. And as she asked Anko, that question too. There was no way back, not when **_they_** had used her a scapegoat.

“Minato already told you the terms cherub. All your Daddy needs is for you to bow your head and ask for forgiveness. Then everything can return to normal. We think you would benefit from pursuing another path, the life of the shinobi is too dangerous for you.”

Tsukiyama had to close her eyes at that point and keep quiet, as Hinata held her close to her chest. If she said nothing, **_he_** would go away. And he did go away after half an hour of silence. Good, Tsukiyama knew what this was, not an offer of peace but a demand for surrender. They wanted her to stop being a shinobi. In her mind that translated as them wanting her to be weak. And Tsukiyama would not be weak, not with a kingdom full of vipers out to get her!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of a connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you rougueofspace for leaving kudos!
> 
> As for the one who bookmarked this story, I hope you stick around.
> 
> I have written a full summary of this story now, I will try to move things quickly but I can't leave too many gaps to fill.

Tsukiyama might have started to considering Ibiki as her ally. He was the one who had made the request for her and Itachi to head off to O'Fuku town themselves. The advisory council had gnashed their teeth. They had reminded him that Tsukiyama was much too precious to allow out of the village. Minato acquiesced. Minato warned Tsukiyama though, her mother would be waiting if she came back injured. Now most people would relish in the great Tsunade being available to heal them, Tsukiyama did not. In Tsukiyama’s eyes, her mother was too comfortable hiding in the shadows of her Sannin teammates. So if she ended up under **_her_** care, they might get the apology they wanted out of her.

O’Fuku town was a smaller town then either of it’s brother towns of O’Tafaku and Tafaku towns. The other towns were the shopping districts. This one where Tsukiyama and Itachi had entered was the poorest of the three. Tsukiyama knew her mission. Watch, taste their chakra and gain a glimpse of their lives. Everyone had chakra, so in effect, everyone’s minds was a book for Tsukiyama ready for her peel open.

_Oh no crops are running low this year, how am I go to come up with enough stock to satisfy the suppliers._

Owl would usually have her identify whose thoughts she was hearing first. Then commit it to memory. She had done it on the InoShikaCho trio, Shikaku Nara was a leaders the campaign against her. The irony was, his son Shikamaru was one of her remaining friends. Shikamaru had been quite insistent on that. He believed their relationship too important to loose. Tsukiyama had no clue clue why that was the case, the Nara clan as smart as they were, were pretty prejudiced. She had had an intelligence test upon entering the academy. Kushina had been most insistent. Her results irked her parents, matching Itachi's and far surpassing that of the Nara clan head.

_Riku sent a message, watch out for the girl with white hair, what did he mean by that?_

Tsukiyama had been on one side of the road when she heard that Itachi one the other. She sent a small gust of wind his way, he immediately locked eyes with her. Have you heard something Tsukiyama?

Tsukiyama made the same signal. She could not yet protect thoughts into Itachi’s mind even if he was willing. Owl said it had something do do with age. Tobirama had given him such a fright one when they had been on a mission together. He had cussed Owl out for actually trying to put Hashirama's silly notions of how peaceful means could take down a hostile enemy.

Tsukiyama and Itachi proceeded to move further out of if the main town and into the nearby fields. There was a lone house there, the smuggler's house. Of course it would be off the beaten track. Locate the house, check. Get into the house to commandeer the contraband, if possible. One, two, three.

“Run Frog run!" She heard Itachi scream as she got dragged up by the fistfuls of her hair. An army surrounded them, a mercenary army of shinobi.

“Huh lookie hear so these smugglers were not lying, for once.” Tsukiyama felt scared, she did not **_like_** feeling this way. This army, could the smugglers have paid them off, what would they have to gain from doing so?

“Let her go!” Tsukiyama heard Itachi yell. Her team captain was being held down by ten shinobi, one of them had a foot on his neck. And her heart was starting to beat in her chest.

“Hmm, white hair, angelic features, even with that mask on you are definitely one of theirs. They will pay very well for you, we’ll never have to work again!”

And Tsukiyama could not stop herself from burst into fits of laughter. “Ransom me? Ransom me! I had hate to disappoint you but I would not fetch you a pretty penny!” Ha, it was not as if the hidden leaf village would actually pay for her safe return. They were too many there vying for her downfall.

Why hadn't her hair started to come out in clumps by now? And then she saw the shinobi at least five times her age staring her down.

“Hmm…you would be wrong about that princess.”

“Don’t you take her!” She heard Itachi’s muffled cry, and then she turned as she heard a horrible crack that did not sound good. She turned back to Itachi to see him having gone limp on the ground.

No…no…no, this couldn’t be **_happening_** , this couldn’t be happening! Minute by minute, her chakra started rising and rising to the surface. They **_killed_** Itachi, oh kami, they killed Itachi! Her chakra was starting to come of in waves and waves, and her captor let her go.

“Look princess, they wouldn’t be happy if we bring them damaged goods.” Her captor actually tried to reason with her, as she looked at him and all the other mercenaries. But Itachi was still lying on the floor.

“You killed him!” Tsukiyama was seeing red, red and more red and her entire body was overtaken by the urge to kill. She reached for the sword strapped to her back, as the mercenary army got their own weapons ready.

“Now princess don’t be hasty, we don’t want to hurt you, but we will if we have to.”

She removed her own blade as she glared them down. “You killed my captain, now I kill you!”

Tsukiyama then whirled her blade round and round and round.

“Don’t hurt her, subdue her damn it. They’ll hunt us down and kill us if we bring them a dead body.” The shinobi hisses.

They don’t want to kill her? Pity she would have kill them. They came at her from the side. They came from up above, from down below. Each time she lashed out, each them she cut them down.

And there was blood there was so much blood. The last one to fall was her captor. She had made sure to strike him right through the heart. "You are already showing shades of their power already!”

Tsukiyama then dropped her blade, falling to the ground as she looked at her hands. Blood covered her hands. Blood covered her uniform. Blood soaked through her hair. And there were dead bodies...everywhere.

She feel to her knees, her heart was pounding, pounding, pounding, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t **_breathe_**. And then she fell onto her knees screaming and **_screaming_**! She had killed, she had finally killed and it felt…it felt **_glorious_**! She blacked out soon after hearing someone descending into hysterics. She would too far **_gone_** to realise that it had been her.

............

Tsukiyama tensed up from the moment that she felt a cold press against her forehead. She went through every lesson Owl had taught her. Don’t flare your chakra first! You might be one of the most powerful sensors to currently exist but you are not the only sensor. Use you natural senses, start with the ones that draw the least attention to yourself. What was the again? Ah yes Tsukiyama remembered, smell. She took a quick snort, and she started coughing and sputtering. It was strong, it was like some sort of disinfectant.

“Oh come on angel, I pulled my chakra back, you shouldn’t be getting sick by it!” Wait Tsukiyama recognised that brisk tone. Her eyes flashed open to glare her mother down. Her mother only shoot back that traitorous smile of hers.

"Well it’s lovely to see you too Tsukiyama my dearest, one year is simply too long!” Her mother, Tsunade Senju, was many things, but at that moment in time she was nothing but a bitch. She dared to bring that up, Tsukiyama would not have this, she would not sit around. But as she rose from what appeared to be a hospital bed, she felt a sharp pain in her left arm. She reached down to see a plastic tube?

Her mother keeled over on her chair where she had been sitting as she laughed, hard. “Oh Jiraiya, come see this. Our brat may have the IQ of Great Uncle Tobirama. In practice though, she had no brains when it comes to not yanking the drip out of her arm. Looks like she's not as smart as she likes to make out to be."

Tsukiyama moved back to the bed, a drip? Why did she need one of those?

“You’ve been drugging me?!” she snapped at her mother.

Tsunade Senju, the great healer of the hidden leaf village, pulled back in her chair. She then looked at Tsukiyama real hard. Tsukiyama flinched as a result. She could feel it, she could taste it, her mother was raising her chakra.

"Goodness it’s still there, isn’t it? Your chakra sensitivity?" She asked her.

Tsukiyama narrowed her eyes, her mother was doing things the way she did them. She was avoiding the question, talking about something else. Tsukiyama let her own chakra rise to the surface. That's when everything in the room made of glass smashed. Her mother only raised her arms a little to defend herself. Once there were no more glasses to break, Tsunade turned her attended to her. She moved forward pressing at the blend of her arm and then checking if the tube was still in tact. She then sat back and sighed.

"These are anti depressions Tsukiyama." Tsunade told her. Tsukiyama contemplated those words for a few seconds before answering. "There’s nothing wrong with my mind!"

Her mother eyed her from the side, Tsukiyama returned the glare. Her mother then gave a small laugh: "That could easily be debated, angel. But your stint in the ANBU does prove that I was right. You would not be able to handle the horrors of the real world."

Tsukiyama turned to glare at her mother, her mother returned the favour. Tsukiyama then told her. "My mind is fine."

Her mother laughed: "Still debatable...but when Minato had you brought in, you were stark raving mad."

Tsukiyama frowned, confusion growing on her features. ”And you expect me to just accept your lies as facts?"

Her mother sighed: "Hum, well that’s good I suppose, you already blocked it out, out of self defence. But those memories will haunt you, bear down on your psyche and truly break you."

I’m already broken Mother. Tsukiyama wanted to snap back.

Her mother eyed her for a few moments, taking her silence as permission to speak further. "No matter, at least you ended up in that state after your first mission. It proves that you are ready to come home."

Tsukiyama groaned as her mother laughed. "Oh come on Tsuki, yes I put the idea into your father's head to drop you of at the ANBU headquarters. But we _still_ have custody over you."

Tsukiyama felt everything becoming too small, too restricting after that. Her parents still had custody over her? No, no, this couldn't be. She thought she had a slither of freedom, but they could revoke it at any time. That did not sit well with her, not at all.

"I can see the disgust written all over your face angel. You were always so desperate to taste a glimpse of the life of your Sannin parents, but it's not a easy life Tsukiyama. We can guarantee a much safer, a much more comfortable life for you."

Her mother's words were like honey you could reach for in a jar full of thorns. Tsukiyama knew that all she had to do in this situation was to turn her gaze on Tsunade. Tap into her chakra and be active with seeking out her mother's thoughts. That's when she heard it:

_Surely Itachi was embellishing the report. Surely she could not have taken down all those mercenaries all by herself. There are ANBU operatives demanding her return. They say she had a talent for it, no, no, it cannot be. Oh Jiraiya, we can't have actually set our only child up as a perfect candidate for the ANBU._

Well, that was...a surprise. Delving into the thoughts of another yielded the usual result. They might give her honeyed words. Their thoughts showed their truer side. Their judgement, their admonishment.

Her mother then stood in front of her, rubbing her face. Tsukiyama looked up, her mother gave her a small smile, as she heard her mother's thoughts:

_We have to pull her back before she gets too accustomed to the freedom she's gained._

"Have some more rest angel. Your father will be back soon. You know what you have to do. Then everything can go back to how they ought to be."

............

The next time Tsukiyama awoke, it was with to a hand on her mouth. She had to blink a few times, it was no longer day. His form then came into focus, pale with black hair tied back into a pony tail.

"It..." At that Itachi put his finger to his lips gesturing her to keep her silence. Of course, how could she be so stupid. She might be in a hospital, but she was still in enemy territory.

"Hello my hime, don't you know how much I have missed you." There was a lot of giggling and slurping sounds coming from the courtyard of the hospital. Tsukiyama knew those noises, a tremble of revulsion ran through her.

Itachi gave her a small breathless laugh.

Itachi was alive. Itachi was _alive_. Tsukiyama then felt the familiar wisps of him elevating his chakra. Itachi knew about her sensory abilites. Sometimes when they had crossed paths, Itachi like to _tickle_ her with his chakra. He had been the one Owl had used as her practice tool. Itachi was good at clearing his mind. There had been glimpses though, thoughts of things that Tsukiyama considered inappropriate. She was too young, too broken to understand the notions of romantic love.

"Missed me have you? You pervert, you only wanted to get your hands on my breasts." Tsukiyama recognised the school voice of her mother. She shiver again in disgust. She tended to use it when her father was around.

Her mother then let out a sudden squeal and a moan that Tsukiyama thought was _very_ inappropriate.

Itachi then moved to her arm, touching the tube still in there. Tsukiyama winced, there was no way of getting away with that in her arm.

"Itachi..."

Itachi looked up to her frowning, bringing his finger to his mouth once more. He then raised his chakra a little more concentrating it on her:

_Don't worry Tsukiyama, I do have training with this. Owl thought it might be prudent given who your mother is._

Tsukiyama took that as a sign to lie back. She then watched as Itachi moved to the trolley in the room. He took out gauze and some liquid that smelled very much like alcohol. Itachi then movedto press his hand down on her arm. He then ripped at the medical tape and pulled out the tube. And before Tsukiyama could even gasp, he sterilised the place where the tube was. He then pressed down the gauze and tapped it down.

After that he reached for her other hand, locking his eyes with hers. She heard him think: _We need to leave now, I won't have you forced into a situation you don't_ want _to be in._

…………

"She can't have...she can't have pulled the drip out all by herself, could she?"

Tsukiyama had let Itachi guide her out of the hospital room and down the stairs. She was still in her hospital gown, but there was no point getting dressed. Her parents were on the move. They were in the room Itachi had pulled her from.

"Go to the nurses and check who might have taken it out for her Tsunade. I will check the security footage." Tsukiyama couldn't help but shiver at her father's dark voice.

_Tsukiyama..._

She turned her attention back to Itachi's smiling face.

_Don't worry that's in the opposite direction to where we're going._

Tsukiyama nodded yet, she still could not help but feel uneasy. She knew what her parents' chakra felt like, she had become aware of them at four. Orochimaru's chakra was cooler, fresher, one that she had come to know at five years old. They moved further and further away from the hospital. It was before crossing the gate however that they heard his voice: "Why hello there."

Tsukiyama and Itachi immediately turned around to see none other than Jiraiya Hagoromo. Tsukiyama's heart went du dum, du dum, du dum.Her father continued to move forward. She could see that he still wore the same green short kimono and matching trousers. He still had the same red haori. He had not changed in the slightest, but she had, she had had her taste of independence. And she was not about to give it up.

"Are you leaving, just like that my little cherub?" All the hairs stood up on Tsukiyama's body when she heard his voice. It was silky, it was smooth and it reminded her of those times when _he_ was still in control.

"Good evening Master Jiraiya." Itachi was the only calming prescene in this situation. Though would it be enough? Tsukiyama felt her father's eyes sticking to her body as panic rose in her.

"Don't you have something you have been meaning to do for me, Tsukiyama?" Her father was coming closer and closer to her now.

"Well do you?"

Tsukiyama then stood with one foot in front of the other. She stared at him, he stared at her. This silence could go on for ages.

"I have nothing to say to you Father," she said with finality, it always worked, it... Deep anger flashed in her father's eyes. From one moment to the next he moved forward, and then his hands were round her neck, choking her.

"You think you can really break away from us, do you?" Her father was shouting at her now, gripping her neck as Tsukiyama found herself gasping.

"Master Jiraiya, control yourself."

"Beg for forgiveness brat. _Do_ it!" her father continued to squeeze and squeeze as Tsukiyama clawed at her neck. Her vision was starting to blur.

A crowbar then smacked Jiraiya right across the back of his head. He fell to the ground as did Tsukiyama. She gasped, her hearing and her vision fuzzing. She felt a hand reaching out for her own. She looked up to see it was Itachi helping her to her feet.

It was as Itachi held her though as her father gave out a cough before pulling himself up from the ground to stare them down. This time Tsukiyama was not the focus of his fury, but Itachi.

"Who are you to interfere in family buisness, _Uchiha_?" her father growled.

"Master Jiraiya, now really, is this necessary?"

Itachi was already pulling Tsukiyama away by the time her father shouted after them. "You will never have my blessing Itachi, _never_!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you please consider leaving kudos?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much to Tdv09 for your comment. My aim as a writer is to have readers to keep on reading my work. I am also glad that you stumbled onto my story as well.
> 
> Thank you to elodieps, FrostFriday, Tdv09, pjmsally, MarkSkylar, lostchildofthenewworld and all guests that left kudos!
> 
> Welcome to all new subscribers and those who bookmarked this story :)

Tsukiyama and Itachi took the quick way through the village, by hopping from building to building. 

Tsukiyama had expected Itachi to pull her down by the ANBU compound, he did not. He pulled her down a metre or so aware from the gates of the Uchiha compound. It was nighttime, they had not expected to meet anyone, they were wrong. There were two people heading out of the gates, and one chakra signature was one Tsukiyama knew well. If Itachi hadn't of been holding her hand, she would have jumped back. Seconds later there was the screech of a banshee, and a bonk that had her falling back onto the floor. She looked up to see two raging violet eyes and flaming red hair. 

"Godmother, what a pleasure to see you." She thought an amicable tone would be best in this situation. She may have a hand on her head but she didn't want to get hit again.

Kushina Uzumaki was a formidable woman, she was also a seething woman. As Tsukiyama was a sensor, Uzumaki chakra was the easiest to read and the one which made her go weak in the knees.

Kushina then glared her down.

“What gave **_you_** the right to miss **_my_** dinner, ha, ha, HA?!” 

Tsukiyama looked up to Kushina, Kushina looked down to her. Tsukiyama considered giving this woman the silent treatment, but she did not. She rose to her feet, hands up in the air in self-defence.

“I was busy,” she told the redhead.

Kushina glared her down. “Oh yeah, doing what, training?”

Tsukiyama gave Kushina a compressed smile. “Yes, that’s why.”

Kushina’s features softened at that, her chakra pulled back. Tsukiyama took a gasp of air as being in her godmother’s presence became just a bit more bearable. 

“How has it been going, your training?” Kushina was perhaps the warmest amongst her family members. She was also the one least away of her situation.

“Training’s been good. It can be exhausting but I always knew that there would be an end goal. I always knew that I would it would lead me to prove myself on missions.” Tsukiyama immediately noticed the flinch in Kushina’s features.

Tsukiyama tapped into the Uzumaki’s chakra, into her thoughts, it was automatic by now. 

_I still can’t believe that they were that cruel to send her there. Don’t they know that you are supposed to stand by your child no matter how much shit they put you through? Minato should be taking Tsuki’s side, not theirs. She’s the child, they’re the parents._

Hmm, that was an odd experience. Tsukiyama was accustomed to most approaching her in an antagonist sort of way. This time she did not know how to react.

“Missions huh? You know you don’t actually have to live in the ANBU compound Tsuki. My home has always been open to you.”

Tsukiyama was taken back by this. This was an offer of family life again. She did want a clan, but she didn’t know…she didn’t…

“Lady Kushina.” Itachi finally cut in as Tsukiyama turned to him. She saw him looking at the other woman who was coming up to Kushina. The street lamps allowed her to see her Uchiha features, features she had only seen on her old classmate Sasuke Uchiha. 

Kushina then turned her attention to Itachi who was drawing close to Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama felt Itachi’s hand on her shoulder. Tsukiyama then felt a change in Kushina’s chakra, it became defensive.

“Now Lady Kushina is that really wise? You might be opening your door to Tsukiyama, but would you be able to stop your husband…”

Tsukiyama felt Kushina’s chakra going from defence to offence as her red hair began to flare behind her. 

“Stop my husband doing what Itachi?!” Kushina spat.

The other woman interjected after that: “Kushina, please don’t be so hostile towards my eldest, he usually had good insights into matters such as these.” 

“Mikoto!” Kushina crossed her arms and looked off to the side in a huff.

“Lady Kushina,” Itachi repeated in a non-confrontational tone. 

“What?!” Kushina snapped.

“We both know that even if Tsukiyama moved into your care, it would not take long until your husband delivered her back to her parents.” Tsukiyama was really starting to appreciate Itachi’s insight into her life, her fears… This was someone who could prove to be a sturdy ally for her in the future. Itachi’s thoughts kept indicating that he wanted to get closer and closer to her anyway.

Kushina looked between her and Itachi and then back again. Tsukiyama kept her own chakra active and heard Kushina’s thought twisting into something that she was a lot more familiar with.

_No, no, no! Once the training is finished, she will get sent out on missions. She could_ **_die_ ** _on those missions._

“Godmother Itachi and I went on our first mission the day before yesterday,” Tsukiyama told her as she watched the horror growing in Kushina’s eyes.

“No! No! NO!” Kushina began to stamp her feet, Tsukiyama woked to keep a straight face. Now it was coming to the surface, the Uzumaki impatience, the Uzumaki anger. Tsukiyama braced herself to be the focus of this rising outburst. 

“NO!” Kushina snapped.

“Lady Kushina, is this really appropriate behaviour for the wife of the fourth Hokage?” Itachi was still as so calm, so collect, Tsukiyama was starting to appreciate the soothing effect he was.

“Damn it, Itachi, you…you made the request for her to be on _your_ team?!”

At hearing Kushina’s question, Tsukiyama turned to Itachi. He had a hand on her shoulder, and as she looked at him, there was a smile that grew on his face. He had asked for her to serve under him, it had not only been by Owl’s interference?!

“Lady Kushina…Tsukiyama’s safety and happiness are of the utmost importance to me.” Tsukiyama felt like she should blush at Itachi’s words.

Kushina then screams before pointing her finger at him: “If she dies Itachi, then it will be on **_your_** hands.” 

Tsukiyama, Itachi and then Mikoto watched as Kushina stomped off in a huff. 

...............

Once Kushina had stomped off in a huff, it was Mikoto who had taken over. She had been the one to drawn Tsukiyama into the changing rooms. She had shooed away Itachi. There had been a bit of banter there. Apparently, Itachi’s mother was very much against Itachi pursuing a relationship where the other party was still too young to consent properly. Tsukiyama had a feeling it had something to do with her, but she would not say anything. The Uchiha district was still unknown territory for her. This meant that if she played her cards properly, this could be a clan where she could seek sanctuary. After all, there were whispers even in the ANBU about crushing the influence the Uchihas still had over the village. 

It was there that Tsukiyama now stood on a platform. Mikoto had rolled out stacks upon stacks of modern and more traditional attire. There were some modest dark colours, and then there were some very much in your face ones. The colour that made Tsukiyama shiver and wanted to hurl was red. Some might think that it was because it was a striking colour, that it would call attention to you. Indeed in the ANBU blacks, greys, browns were what formed the uniform. No, what made Tsukiyama detest **_that_** colour was the fact that it was a trademark of her father’s getup.

“Lady Mikoto, I’m not sure if all this frivolity is necessary. Really, my ANBU attire is perfectly acceptable.” Tsukiyama kept her tone level, distant, very much like a solider addressing a commander. That did not mean however that she would not reach out for wisps of Mikoto’s chakra. Every mind was hers to peel open as if it were an orange getting prepared for consumption.

What she heard might have made her blush, might have made her jump, well if Tsukiyama had not learnt to repress such emotions. 

_Says the one who’s traipsing around in a hospital gown as if it were the most natural thing in the world._

Tsukiyama immediately broke the link, blinking a few times as Mikoto comes back into focus. 

Mikoto was giving a small wave, Itachi’s move. She had this small warm smile and well-placed words: “Itachi told me about you. He expressed how relieved he was that you had not simply shut off from the world. You simply choose to go about it in a different way.” 

For the first time in a year perhaps, she felt her cheeks becoming just a little heated. She looked away when that happened, weakness was not something she could show.

“Now Tsukiyama, my husband will be calling us for dinner soon and you are not in the right attire for such an occasion.” Tsukiyama looked back at Mikoto to spot her between the clothes racks.

Tsukiyama exhaled, well resisting the Uchiha matriarch didn’t seem like the best course of action this time around. So she let her eyes flit from one kimono to one set of pants, dresses. She eventually pointed a kimono painted in a stunning Persian blue. 

Mikoto took it off the rack, coming close and saying something that struck Tsukiyama odd.

“How curious that you should choose the colour of the Hagoromo.” 

Colour of the Hagoromo?

“Do you need some help or should I assist you?” Mikoto asked. 

Tsukiyama shook her head and took the kimono. Mikoto then undid the ties at the back of her hospital gown. Once again, Tsukiyama felt her face heat up. 

She was slipping up. As she pulled the kimono on she decided it was down to the drugs. Yes, that was it, her mother had screwed up her mind somehow. 

“So Tsukiyama, how do you feel now after a year of being away from the village’s spotlight?” Tsukiyama was pulling on the final layers of kimono. It was the traditional sort with many layers. She was trying to tie it all together, but she didn’t anticipate that such a frivolous garment would not cooperate with her. There were too many things to tie around the back. 

Tsukiyama then saw Mikoto smiling at her, her face once again felt warm.

“Do you want me to help you?” Mikoto was very meek, very mild when she asked the question. Tsukiyama though had to bow her head when acquiescing, asking for help usually signified showing weakness. Asking for help came with consequences, like worshipping the ground her _parents_ walked on. 

Mikoto did not attempt to say anything as she tied everything up for her. Tsukiyama appreciated it. So when Mikoto did turn around to face her once more, she gave the Uchiha matriarch her answer.

“It’s been a big mercy actually. I have had a chance to clear my mind. Socialising is really not my forte, to be honest.”

Mikoto was giving her this sort of look that made Tsukiyama delve into her thoughts once again.

_It’s not fair to concentrate all the hatred of the Father onto the child. An least we Uchiha can defend each other from the onslaught of the villagers’ growing disdain for us._

Mikoto then gave Tsukiyama the kind of smile that indicated that she had been caught out. Tsukiyama though had the decency to look away before going bright red in the face. 

Silence ensued after that. Mikoto was not going to start up a conversation for fear of embarrassing Tsukiyama further. Tsukiyama meanwhile did not know how to ease the situation.

The only thing that gave them reprieve was the series of knocks that came on the door. 

“Mikoto, is our guest in a more decent state now?” 

Tsukiyama looked at Mikoto and Mikoto looked at Tsukiyama. The Uchiha matriarch was smiling at her, it seemed sincere, her chakra was actually becoming quite soothing to Tsukiyama now. And it did not seem forced as her mother had done it.

“Yes, husband,”

It was on Mikoto’s words alone that the dressing room doors burst open to reveal Itachi and an older man that looked like him. It was said older man that came closer, took her hands into his before muttering something that seemed to bring tears to his eyes:

“She looks…she looks so much like our Lady Seikeiya once did.”

...............

“I thought...I thought you were dead!"

Sasuke Uchiha, now he was a throwback to the two years she had spent in the academy walls. Then again, Tsukiyama didn’t like to think all that much about _that_ time, the time when things between her and her father had gone from awkward to abusive. 

“Watch your manners boy!” Fugaku snapped whilst making Sasuke cower in his seat. Tsukiyama had joined the Uchiha clan head, along with his wife and their two sons. The table they shared was in a separate room. Food had been brought there by the servants who were part of the household. Fish was on the menu tonight, Tsukiyama was glad for the lack of options. She didn’t want any more awkward moments like getting caught out for reading minds.

“But…but…” Sasuke was not letting up.

Tsukiyama started to eat. She knew a little about clan etiquette, the guest would eat first, then everyone else could follow. 

Fugaku accepted this as she watched him begin to eat, then Mikoto and then Itachi. Sasuke though had the sort of petulant look on his face that he would _not_ be ignored. 

“From one day to the next you were there and then you weren’t there. What _happened_ to you?!” Sasuke was now speaking to Tsukiyama directly. Itachi on her side was taking over the conversation, he seemed to understand her need to _not_ talk.

“Tsukiyama joined the ANBU, little brother.”

Sasuke flinched at that and the look he gave Tsukiyama was one of pity. That look made her feel ever so uneasy. It was the one Orochimaru had given her when her father had dragged her out of the house. She had tried to slip out of her father’s grip, she had tried to run back to the house. Everyone had come out to watch. That’s when he pulled her kimono up and spanked her hard for all to see. After _that_ , she did not fight.

“ _Real_ -ly? The other clans have been saying that Tsukiyama went out on her first mission and got killed.” Sasuke continued.

Tsukiyama watched as the adults in the room almost choked on their food, she only continued to eat. This sort of thing did not faze her, the villagers hated her, wanting her dead or at least imagining it was the next logical step. But then she would not lie down dead _just_ because _they_ wanted it.

“The only dead from Tsukiyama’s first mission was the mercenary army.”

Sasuke looked fearful at that, his parents looked intrigued. It seemed that they did not know as much about her mission as her mother had done.

“You…you took down a mercenary army all by yourself Itachi. You’re so awesome elder brother.” Tsukiyama could not help but smirk a little at Sasuke’s brother worship as she continued to eat. She needed a distraction, she needed a reason to not engage.

Itachi laughed at that. Tsukiyama felt his chakra flicker like that of a sea. Then there was a sudden wave of chakra which made her jump in her seat.

Itachi put a hand on her shoulder, she looked back to see his smile. He spoke to her, in their own sort of wordless way.

_Remember Tsukiyama, you control your sensory powers, not the other way around._

Tsukiyama nodded. In some ways, he was like Mikoto, but for the moment, he wasn’t directing any judgement towards her. Owl was the only other adult she had encountered like that, even if he kept his thoughts under lock and key from her.

Tsukiyama then watched as Itachi turned his gaze to Sasuke. Sasuke becomes like a flower ready to bloom under his brother paying attention to him.

“Actually little brother, that was Tsukiyama.”

Sasuke then turned his attention to Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama then added a few more mouthfuls of food. But she couldn’t ignore as Sasuke’s eyes went wider and wider and wider until he stumbled to his feet making his chair fall right over.

He was shaking a finger at her, stuttering as Tsukiyama felt Fugaku’s chakra roaring to life. His anger was getting so intense that even Tsukiyama ended up snapping her chopsticks from the way it affected her.

“Don’t let it control you Tsukiyama,” Itachi murmured into her ear. 

Tsukiyama watched as Fugaku shot up from his chair. She saw him stomping over to his youngest. Sasuke was still staring at her, his words coming out a whole garbled mess. There was a lot of no, no, that’s not possible, she should be dead, her parents are monsters. Tsukiyama rather had to agree with Sasuke’s last statement. She suppressed a wince when Fugaku dragged his youngest up by the scruff of his neck.

“You dare dishonour our guest this way, boy?” Fugaku’s bombing voice did not faze her, his chakra was when she was having to shut out of all of her sensory channels. Tsukiyama started to take breaths in, breaths out, breaths in and then out. Owl had taught her this. He had helped her open up her sensory output more, to pin down whose chakra belonged to whom. He had also given her the kill switch, but it wasn’t much of a kill switch when…when…

“But you don’t understand father, there’s a betting pool. All the parents have thrown in money. A lot have put in their money that she would die in the first year. Some have said it would be her second. A few in her third year. Father, Father, they’ve been asking, they’ve been asking where you and mother would be putting your money?”

The kill switch was now in place. Tsukiyama was breaking out in a sweat. Implementing it so suddenly was something that Owl had advised against. Her vision then focused on Fugaku, Mikoto and their youngest. Fugaku gave him Sasuke’s response.

“Never, we would vote, never, Sasuke.”

Fugaku let go of Sasuke’s collar making her once classmate fall back onto his feet.

“But Father…”

It was Mikoto who responded.

“We don’t bet against Lady Seikeiya’s family, we just _don’t_.”

Tsukiyama let out a loud groan that she hoped would divert everyone’s attention.

“What ails you Tsukiyama?”

Tsukiyama waved her hand. “Oh nothing much, I just really think I need to get as _far_ away from this village as possible.”

Fugaku now turned his full attention back onto her and Itachi.

“You and Itachi should be able to do that easily enough. You are after all both Lord First’s students.”

Lord First’s students, how strange, they won’t be talking about Owl, would they? Tsukiyama knew that that shinobi was an old power, but Hashirama’s, no, no, that was not possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please consider leaving kudos!
> 
> Comments are rare treasures that I would also greatly appreciate.


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